The Guarneri "Twin" Violins

About the Guarneri “Twin” Violins

A violin maker from Cremona, Italy, Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù (1698-1744), created a small group of violins that would be used by virtually every virtuoso from Nicolò Paganini to Jascha Heifetz and Fritz Kreisler, and, more recently, extraordinary artists like Szymon Goldberg. Around 1730 to around 1732 Guarneri made two violins from the same piece of wood. One was the “Kreisler” Guarneri, acquired by Fritz Kreisler in 1927, which he gave to the Library in 1952. The other was the “Baron Vitta,” named after the first known owner, acquired by Szymon Goldberg in 1958. The “Baron Vitta” has been generously given to the Library of Congress by Szymon Goldberg’s wife, Miyoko Yamane Goldberg, in May 2007 so that it may reside with its “twin.”